Improvement in rail-supporting shoe-plates



J KELLER. Rail-Supporting Shoe-Plate.

No. 218,442. Patented Aug. 12, 1879.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN KELLER, OFLANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA...

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 218,442, dated August1-2, 1879; application filed June 5, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN KELLER, of the city and county of Lancaster, inthe State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements inRail-Supporting Shoes in Railroads, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a class of devices for supporting the railsintermediate between the ordinary cross-ties in railroad-tracks, for thepurpose herein more fully set forth, in the manner specified.

The accompanying drawings, with the letters of reference marked thereon,and a brief description, will enable those skilled in the art to makeand apply the same.

Figure 1 shows two rails with the ordinary cross-ties and theintermediate shoe-supports in place. Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view ofthe combined plates on the rail. Fig. 3 shows a single plate inperspective, enlarged, with a bolt and nut.

What I term the shoe plate or plates, used in pairs, consists of a plateof sufficient thickness, formed out of wrought-iron or steel, by rollingor otherwise, having a straight or vertical flange to fit between theflange and base of an ordinary rail, R, and then carried to the edge ofthe base, and flared out horizontally and downward and outward beyondthe base to the road-bed or of the height of an ordinary cross-tie.These plates S are pierced for bolts through the vertical flange, as isalso the web of the rail B, so as to match those in the plates. Oneplate is fitted to each side, and both are opposite each other on therail and bolted with heavy-headed bolts, and secured by nuts asfish-plates, or otherwise, to form the two supports S S for the rail.These plates may be of any desired length, and differ in that respect asto the object had in view, whether it be to dispense with one, two, ormore intermediate cross-ties, T, in each length of rail R. There areusually sixteen cross-ties to a thirty-foot rail, the roadway beingballasted, as seen at B, in the ordinary way, and to the usual depth,and well tamped in between the space of the shoeplates, and on theiroutside the plates are very firmly seated. It is verily believed a moreeasy mode of laying track than laying the sill and spiking the rail toit.

I am aware that the expense of good wooden cross-ties has led to variousdevices, with a .view to provide intermediate supports for the rails inrailroad-trackssuch, for instance, as short piles or stout stakes drivenperpendicularly in the ground with a pile -driver, at proper intervals,and iron or steel rods to bind each rail firmly to its place. Such adevice I disclaim for obvious reasons. Having had practical acquaintancewith railways for many years I know the difficulty and necessity in thecase of intermediate supports, and piles or stakes will not answer. Theshoe-plates I propose to use may be of alength to support the rail tothe exclusion of. one, two, or three intermediate cross-ties. Theseplates, being flared out below, when well tamped and ballasted, form asolid, wide, immovable base that will set firm, and no thumping of thecars can sink or wear them, and no iron or steel rods will be required.These plates are readily rolled out of iron or steel, and easilyadjusted to the level of the rail when bolted to its sides, and are asdurable as they are convenient. A coat of asphaltum or the like may beapplied to increase their durability, and in the end will be foundcheaper than any wooden cross-ties or stakes used for that purpose.

I do not claim metal castlngs or plates secured to the sleepers of thetrackand clasping the rails; 'nor do I claim, broadly, such platesemployed as a substitute for cross-ties and set in the ballast; but

What I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the rails of a railway, the plates S S, eachhaving a vertical upper part adapted to be bolted to the neck of a rail,a curved or inclined part adapted to fit the footof the rail, a flatpart for widening the base of the rail, and a long inclined part adaptedto extend down into the road-bed and thus secure the rails in position.

2. The plates S, in combination with the rails and alternatingcross-ties of a railway, said plates being constructed to fit snugly tosaid rails, and provided with a horizontal part and a downwardly andoutwardly inclined part, substantially as set forth.

JOHN KELLER.

